Fractures of Eternity

Instead of following Thea’s lead, my vampire appeared to be stuck on something else entirely.

“Oi… What the fuck happened?” Loki huffed, grabbing onto my arm, which made me notice his eyes twitching.

“I…” I trailed off, shifting my gaze back onto the floor.

However, before anything meaningful came from our interaction, something on the floor caught Thea’s attention.

“Oh, fuck! You actually cut his finger off?” She picked up the severed limb, which was damaged, yet the ring was still intact.

She pulled the jewelry off it before tossing it at me, as I stumbled to catch it.

“It was the only way to stop him from porting away, since I couldn’t let you fall into your death,” I mumbled, focusing on the bloody metal in my hands.

Before I knew it, I was in her arms as she shoved Loki aside, leaving me with my eyes wide open, unsure of what intentions she had for me.

“Oh gosh, Loki! She’s adorable! A little psychopathic, but the good kind, I guess. I approve!” Thea giggled, smothering me.

Approve?! What?!

“Hah… Thea… I’m in a bad mood.” He huffed at his sister, as I couldn’t help but try to push her away.

Her Lycan strength, though, didn’t let me.

“Oi! Don’t treat me like this! I’m a goddess! A freaking goddess! I deserve respect, you stupid mutt!” I snapped, yet it was as if I hadn’t said a thing at all.

“Oh, smite me, beautiful goddess! I don’t mind!” Thea beamed.

Eh?! This girl is insane, just like…

I gazed at my vampire, who was still visibly irritated.

“Thea,” Loki huffed.

“Back off, big brother. I want to get to know my future sister-in-law more!” Thea held me in her grasp, as if I were a porcelain doll.

Why is this…

I went to complain, but quickly stopped feeling something off when a malevolent aura was surging above us. Loki, Eli, and Thea were unaware, yet my eyes were locked promptly on the tallest building next to us.

“Vivian?” They both mumbled my name, noticing my reaction as I quivered, noticing piercing blue eyes glaring at us.

“Eli!” I screamed, alerting the snake to the incoming danger, but my response was too late. All he could do was take the blow for us, sending him flying into three buildings away from us.

In the blink of an eye, everything was set and done, as spikes of blood had pinned our attacker onto the wall of the building he jumped from, revealing it was none other than Oliver. The wolf was radiating a blue aura as his gaze was shimmering brightly.

“Jin!” He called out to his brother, but there was no response.

Loki had me in his arms as he kept his hold on the rabid wolf, who was starting to break free from his hold.

“Loki, destroy his core!” I declared, clinging to my link.

“What?” Loki breathed, focusing on the wolf who emanated the azure energy, turning everything eerie.

We only had a second, and I didn’t have the time to explain what a homunculus was to him. We didn’t even know where the core was, but it was all that came out of my mouth.

“How dare you?! Do this to my baby brother?!” Oliver snarled, as in his hands were blue spheres, and a second later, we were staring at six shadow beasts, triggering Loki to go on complete defense, while the wolf escaped his binding before jumping over to the warlock.

My eyes couldn’t follow them, as Loki had to confine six beasts on his own, a heartbeat later. I didn’t know how many he had fought before getting to us, especially in the ball, since I remembered hearing their roars there, but it seemed that keeping six from breaking out was a handful.

The blood cages held them, but even a strong vampire like him wasn’t impotent. He couldn’t break concentration from the imprisoned beast, as one broke free soon after, prompting Eli to catch it as it barely launched at us. From the corner of my eye, I noticed the young female wolf launch at the enemy, as my words couldn’t leave my lips fast enough.

“No! Don’t!” I tried to warn her, but I couldn’t keep up when the rogue Lycan crushed Thea’s hand in his before forming a V on her arm.

The screech that came from her mouth startled us. It almost caused Loki to break from the beasts in front of him.

“Thea!” Loki screamed for his baby sister as soon as he gazed away from the shadow demons, and one almost escaped.

“Oh… you think because you got your powers back, you’re a challenge to me? Pup, you’re inexperienced!” Oliver snickered as she fell onto her knees.

Instantly, blood spikes came from Oliver’s body, as it would have killed anyone else. However, instead of downing him, he stayed up, his eyes glued on the little wolf before him. A crooked laugh came from him, as his healing factor was on overdrive thanks to the core in his body.

“Oh, you have your hands full, bloodsucker.” Oliver antagonized Loki before laughing at him.

There was no time to think anymore, as this wolf was about to hurt Thea irreversibly. If he pulled a slight bit, he would have ripped her arm off.

“Stop! I’m the one you want!” I offered myself again, showing him the ring in my hands.

He could tell from a simple sniff that Jin’s blood was on me the most.

“You?!” He snarled, “What can a puny human like you do?!”

I took a step toward him, away from my vampire.

“I always keep my word!” I assured him, prompting him to release Thea, who coiled into herself with her injured hand.

“No, Vivian!” Loki yelled, forgoing the beasts behind him as he went for me just as Oliver did.

Again, everything was too fast for me to follow. As before, I knew it; I was in Loki’s arms again, while the eerie wolf’s fist crashed against a blood wall. Eli had thrown the beast in his grip up into the air, joining us at speeds I couldn’t follow. His tail had whacked Oliver away from us as the beasts behind us were all free, yet they quickly stopped on their tracks when something came from above, crashing Oliver to the ground, as his head splattered on the concrete upon contact.

Purple flames erupted from behind us, sending the attacking beast into a temporary retreat. Loki and I had fallen onto Eli, though my beloved was holding me against his chest for dear life.

“Dad?!” Thea gasped, noticing her father on top of Oliver’s headless body.

Alijah’s piercing eyes gazed at Loki and me, leaving me stunned where I was. He appeared to be a different man without a mask on his face.

“Your mom will be angry with you when she finds you here.” He sighed, turning to his injured daughter.

I yearned for relief to wash over me, but something about what was happening prevented it, whether it was because Rem was right behind us chasing the beasts that had cornered us or because Oliver wasn’t dead. However, the purple shine from the beasts being purged was easing the stress, yet before I could breathe, Oliver’s hand twitched, which could’ve been a normal body reflex, as they usually happened a while after expiration, especially on someone who was battling before death, but I knew his core was probably still intact.

“Alijah! He isn’t dead!” I warned, as a second later, Oliver was up and launching at the old black wolf.

Unlike me, who couldn’t keep up with a Lycan or vampire, Alijah could. Instead of meeting with his target, the brown wolf met with his hand, which clasped onto the younger wolf’s throat.

“You know, I was far from here, and these fucking buildings are a pain to maneuver around, but I managed to hear what you said to my daughter. For that, you’re nothing but dust.” He growled as a red hue radiated from him.

A heartbeat later, the rabid Lycan was gone from our plane of existence. The power this wolf had was jaw-dropping, which reminded me of why my mother wanted him to be my guardian at first.

You and Rem are essential for the battle with the living gods. If it comes to that… Which I hope it doesn’t.

Though there was no doubt in my heart, this wolf was the rebirthed soul of Valdios, the god of destruction. A small glimmer emerged from the spot where he had killed Oliver, catching my attention, but before I could even realize what it was. Rem landed next to us, and the moment she saw Loki there, all hell broke loose.